Gate mechanism



March 17, 1925.

' P. PACE GATE MECHANISM nal' Filed Penas. 1923-' Ovrigi Patented Mar. 17, 1925.

UNITED STATES PETER PACE, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

GATE MECHANISM.

Original application filed February 23, 1923, Serial No. 620,622. Divided and this application filed August 29, 1923.

T all whom z'z may concern.'

Be it known that I, PETER Pilon, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gate Mechanisms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the reference numerals marked thereon.

My present invention relates to gates and barriers and more particularly to gates suitable for barring the passage of road vehicles on to railroad tracks at grade crossings in times of danger and the invention has for its object to provide a simple and efficient gate that can be operated with ease and certainty and which will yield sufficiently when accidentallyY struck by a vehicle to avoid damage to itself and to the vehicle. To these and other ends the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a gate mechanism constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of my invention the same being' partly in section transversely through the road bed of the highway and beingin lowered or normal position.

Figure 2 is a similar view with the gate in raised position, the view being partly broken away.

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 1.

Figure et is a detail section on the line 4 4 of Figure 2 showing the manner in which the gate may yield laterally and Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of the upper end of the gate.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several views indicate thc same parts.

To first give a general idea of the princif pal elements of the apparatus I provide the highway at opposite sides of the railroad with preferably vertically movable gates 1ocated in pits or wells and normally retracted below the surface of the road bed. Pneumatic or hydraulic means are provided for raising and lowering these gates under the Serial No. 660,048.

control of a valve actuatedby an approaching train through devices located on the tracks. This application is a division of my prior application Serial Number 620,622, filed February 23, 1923, in which I describe and claim the train control of the gate but this application is restricted to the gate itself. i

Referring more particularly to the drawings 3 indicates the road bed of a highway in the vicinity of a railroad crossing. At suitable distances from the ,track on each side there is provided in the road bed a transversely extending; well l thel sides of which toward the edges of the road are flanked by preferably tubular guide posts On the inner sides ofthe posts are grooves 6 constituting guide ways that receive trunnions or projecting pins 7 on the ends of a gate frame 8. The gate is of suitable height to offer a barrier for an ordinary road vehicle, is preferably composed of net ting as indicated at 9 and normally occupies the lower position of Figure 1 at the bottom ofthe guide 6 with its upper edge level with the surface of the road bed.

i/Vithin the pit 4 between the posts and below the gate is a cylinder 10 containing a piston 11 on a rod 12 extending through the upper head 13 of the cylinder and through a transverse bar 14 connecting the posts 5 and resting on the top of the cylinder (there being a similar bar 15 connecting the posts below upon which bar the cylinder rests). The upper end of the rod carries a transverse bar 16 provided with a pintle 17 the ends of which travel in the guideway 6 in the manner of the trunnions 7. The pintle is received in knuckles 18 on the bar 16 and on the lower rail of the gate frame respectively. lVhen the gate is. elevated in the manner hereinafter set forth from the position of Figure 1 to the operative position of Figure 2, the trunnions 7 reach the ripper ends of the guide posts where the guideways 6 are provided with laterallyturned outlets 19 as shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5. Leaf springs 20 restrict these lateral extensions or outlets so that the'etrunnions 7 will not normally escape but when force is used as by the impact of a vehicle the trunnions are forced past the retaining springs and the gate is permitted to swing downwardly upon the road bed allowing the vehicle to pass over without substantial damage to either it or to the gate. The necessity for this action might arise were the gate to come up suddenly in front of a vehicle which did not have time to stop entirely before reaching it. The vehicle would nevertheless have'fb'een warned and could stop in time to avoid being struck by the train.

Spectacle lights 2l may surrnount the posts 5 to give warning of their operation and act as beacons at night. They aresuitably supplied from wires 22 running from the pit up through thehollow posts.

It will be seen from the foregoing that pneumatic or hydraulic pressure introducedv through a pipe ,23 into the bottomr of the cylinder l0 below the piston l1 will force up the plunger' rod 1Q and elevate the gate It will descend of its own weight'whenthis pressure is released and itis .in this way that the gate is operated Vand controlled.

I claim as myv invention:

l. In a highway gate for railroad cross# ings, the combination with vert-ical guides arranged partly above and partly below the level of the ground, of a gate vertically movable in the guides and adapted to swing laterally on a horizontal axis-near itsV lower edge when in raised position, and yielding means for holding-the gate against swinging movement.

2. In a highway gate for railroad crossings, the combination with vertical guides arranged partly above and partly below the level of the ground, and provided with lateral openings attheir upper ends, of a gate vertically' movable in the guides, a farrier therefor beneath the same to which the gate is hinged along its lower edge, and means on the gate n ear its top cooperating withl the guides and adapted to pass out through the lateral openings when the hinge line of the gate reaches the groundjlevel'.

3. In a highway crossing barrier orrailroads, the combination' with a railroad and ahighway crossing the same and provided with a pitadjacent to the railroad', of avertically movable gate normally retracted within the pit below the surfaceio thehighway and adapted when raised to swing to horizontal position over said surface and pneumatic operating meansy Jfor raising` the gate to bar the highway andl for lowering the same.

PETER- PAGE. 

